Oldest man alive survives as the angel forgets him

An official of the Sragen Population and Civil Registration Agency, Central Java, shows the e-ID of Sodimejo known as Mbah [grandpa] Jo Gotho on Sept. 8, 2016. The files record that Mbah Jo Gotho was born on Dec. 31, 1871. JP/Magnus Hendratmo

Mbah Jo Gotho lies on his bed while listening to his radio at his house in Sragen, Central Java, in this Sept. 8, 2016, file photo. Even though he was already 146 years old, he could still hear clearly. JP/Magnus Hendratmo

Sodimejo “Mbah [grandpa] Jo” Gotho passed away on April 30. On his e-ID card, it was written that he was born on Dec. 31, 1870, although the Sragen Population and Civil Registration Agency did not have any documentation on his birth as the oldest data is only from the 1950s.

Mbah Jo Gotho’s story as a witness of the development of the sugar mill in Sragen became the basis of his age. He was reported to be the oldest man in the world as he claimed he was 146 years old.

“Simbah [grandpa] was the oldest man in the world,” claimed Suryanto, Mbah Jo Gotho’s grandson from his fourth wife.

Suryanto said a team of doctors from the US conducted a DNA test on his grandfather. “We needed to wait for six weeks to get the result on the exact age of simbah,” he added.